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Sergio Perez missed out on a shot at pole position because of a numbers issue just before his final flying lap in Q3 at the 2022 F1 Azerbaijan GP weekend, according to Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.
The Mexican driver was held up in his garage apparently due to a refuelling delay. This proved to be costly for Sergio Perez since there was no car ahead of him to give slipstream. Ultimately, he could only manage to secure a spot on the front row, behind Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.
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Speaking directly after Saturday's qualifying session with Sky Sports F1, Christian Horner said:
“It was a great performance by both guys there, Checo [Sergio Perez] carrying that confidence from Monaco at a track he has always excelled at here and without the benefit of tow, a good lap for him. There was a small issue with the refuelling that just delayed it unfortunately so I think there was just a slight numbers error.”
The 48-year-old went on to add:
“It was a shame for Checo because he didn’t get the benefit of a tow but he did have a perfect out lap and you can see his performance was pretty mighty. With a tow it could have been pretty close but I don’t think we would have quite had the pace to nail Charles [Leclerc] today.”
Sergio Perez giving Red Bull boss Christian Horner a 'positive headache', claims former F1 driver
Former F1 driver Allan McNish feels Sergio Perez's impressive performances are giving Red Bull boss Christian Horner a 'positive headache'.
McNish, who raced for Toyota back in the 2002 season, was in awe of Sergio Perez after the latter's win at this year's Monaco GP during a recent episode of the F1 Nation podcast, where the Briton said:
“Sergio [Perez], to me, drove a fantastic race. It brings him 15 points from the lead of the World Championship. It certainly does give Christian Horner a bit of a positive headache. I would say it’s a luxurious problem to have–there are a lot of teams who would like to be in that position. I think he’s put himself into a position where, within Red Bull, he is not a number two–he’s sort of coming to be like a number one-ish.”
Perez will be keen to celebrate his contract extension at Red Bull by becoming the first driver to repeat as a winner at the Baku City Circuit, having won last season's race after Max Verstappen's tire failure and Lewis Hamilton's flaming brakes put them out of contention.
